I Always Have
by DreamFire.Vee
Summary: "She stroked her hand over the top of the headstone thinking how right the words were that they had chosen." Set in Storybrooke but no real time frame as sort of AU. They both have magic which connects them as they have TL. Time jumps a little but hopefully easy to follow. This is established Swan Queen and are married. WARNING: Major Character Death. 2 Parts...
1. Chapter 1

**Dedicated to Meg**

* * *

It was a cold, wet and windy Friday afternoon in Storybrooke. The winter weather had started to close in on the sleepy coastal town so people were generally staying wrapped up in their homes and not venturing out. As such it meant there had not been many call outs for Emma who was now sat at her desk in the Sheriffs office drumming her fingers on the desk, daydreaming about lunch. She has decided to surprise Regina by taking over takeout from Granny's as she knew the mayor had had a busy week but this afternoon she was relatively free.

Looking up at the clock on the wall and seeing it read 12:30 she stood and grabbed her dark brown leather jacket with white fur trim off the coat stand and put it on, zipping the front up to just below her bust. She made sure the phones had been diverted to her phone, locked the office and headed to the Diner with a spring in her step.

As Emma walked into the Diner the little bell above the door made its usual jingling sound alerting the people inside to a new arrival. Some of the customers gave her a small wave or a smile which Emma returned as she ran her hands through her golden hair in an attempt to tame it from the windswept mess it had become. She made her way over to the counter perching on one of the tall bar stools, just as Ruby walked over with a small wave.

"Hey Em, want your usual?" Ruby asked with a friendly smile as she reached into her apron for a pen and her pad.

"Yeah please Rubes and can I have Regina's as well, to go" she replied to her friend returning the friendly smile. Ruby nodded and went to hand in the slip of paper to the kitchen and tend to other people. Emma glanced at the clock and mentally worked out that by the time she had got the food and made her way over to the town hall she would be there at around 1pm.

As Emma sat there her thoughts returned to Regina. It was amazing how far the pair of them had come especially looking back to when Emma had first arrived in the then sleepy town. The pair had gotten off to a rather rocky start, neither trusting the other nor particularly liking the other. Obviously since then Emma and Regina had both had late night conversations about this time and now Emma knew this had just been Regina's fear that she would take Henry away and Emma's own fears that Henry was not in a good home with people who loved him. Now looking back she knew Regina had always loved their son and at points it had been the only thing keeping her grounded and together.

Ruby returned a few minutes later and placed two brown take out bags with Granny's logo printed on them onto the counter followed by two take out cups of coffee. Emma pulled a few bills from her jacket pocket and slid them towards her friend,

"Thanks Rubes, you're the best" she smiled again as she grabbed the food and exited the diner heading towards the town hall which was only a short walk away.

* * *

Emma walked up to Regina's office door and realised with a sigh she wouldn't be able to walk in and surprise her wife as she would have wanted as she didn't have a hand free to open the door. Instead she gently kicked the bottom of the door three times with the toe of her boot and waited for Regina to answer. She knew she wasn't in a meeting or on the phone thanks to the brunette's assistant who had informed her before leaving for her own lunch break

When Regina has swung the door open Emma couldn't help the big smile that spread over her face and Regina returned it immediately. Even though Emma had watched Regina get dressed that very morning before they had both headed out to work, it still took her breathe away. Today Regina had decided to wear a plum coloured knee length dress that showed off her gorgeous curves in all the right ways, with a thin black waist belt with a gold fastener on it. Emma couldn't help notice how Regina's eyes also skimmed over her own frame although she was only wearing her usual black skinny jeans, dark brown knee high boots and her jacket.

"Hey, I brought you lunch and a vanilla coffee" Emma explained as she walked into the office once she had come back to her senses, she walked past Regina who closed the door behind them and deposited the items onto the black glass table by the fire which was roaring brightly. She picked up Regina's coffee and walked back over to her.

She lent forward and placed a loving kiss onto Regina's dusky rose painted lips. One of Regina's hands founds its way up and round the back of Emma's neck pulling the blonde towards her more to deepen the kiss. Emma smiled against her wife's now kiss swollen lips before pulling back and holding the cup of coffee out to her.

"And to what do I owe this honor?" replied Regina as took the coffee cup and took a small sip from it. It wasn't that she wasn't pleased to see Emma, she had been so busy this past week that she felt like the two of them has hardly spent any time together.

"Well I know how busy you have been this week and thought you could use a treat and secondly, I missed you" Emma said with a small shrug and looked away from Regina blushing. It was still hard, even now, to show Regina how much she meant to her and expressing her emotions had never been easy but she was getting better.

Regina placed a finger under Emma's chin forcing it up gently and making it so the blonde had to look her in the eye. Regina smiled and placed her own kiss onto Emma's lips as she whispered "I missed you too" back to her.

Emma smiled again before placing her hand around Regina's waist and guiding her over to the couch in front of the fire and shrugging off her jacket as it was lovely and warm in the office. Under her jacket she wore a simple black, long sleeved v-neck top which hugged her toned body. She sat down next to Regina and started to open the bags to distribute the food.

"Have you got to work this weekend?" Emma inquired as she bit into her grilled cheese sandwich followed by a sip of her own coffee.

"Luckily, no" replied Regina with a smile as she played with her kale salad with her fork, "I have to run some papers out to Mr Stevens at his farm after work as he left them after the meeting and I know he will need them but then we have to whole weekend, wait, have you got to work?" she looked at her wife with hopeful eyes. It had been so long since they had had a weekend to spend as a family.

Emma smiled and shook her head, not wanting to answer with a mouthful of grilled cheese, "No I managed to swap with David as I worked the last two weekends so he could spend some time at home," Emma gave a bigger smile "and I know Henry is home this weekend as well, no sleepover's planned, as of yet, so we can have a proper family weekend." She started to mentally plan out all the things they could do together.

Tomorrow they could go to the stables and Regina and Henry could go for a ride while Emma caught up on some reading. Afterwards if it wasn't too cold they could have a picnic by the pond in the park and then in the evening they could play a board game. Sunday they could have a movie marathon with blankets, quilts and big fluffy pillows all spread out in the lounge. To Emma it sounded like a perfect weekend.

However her daydreaming was interrupted when Regina elbowed her in the side, Emma's attention snapped back to her wife who was pointing at her jacket. Emma sighed as she fished her phone out and slide her finger across the screen to answer it.

"Sheriff Swan," the blonde said formally into the device as she took a large sip of her coffee as she began to listen to the caller on the other end. A frown began to form across her face and then she quickly stood up and grabbed her jacket as she struggled to put it on while juggling her phone. Regina quickly stood up too thinking that something had happened to Henry or there was another Big Bad spotted in town.

"Ok I will be there in about 10 minutes, I have to go and get the cruiser and I will be right over" she hung up the phone call and turned to face Regina with an apologetic look on her face "I'm sorry I have to cut lunch short." She said as she grabbed hold of Regina's hand in her own and gave a small squeeze, "apparently the wind is really picking up and a storm is heading in. A tree has fallen on an electric cable so I have to go and assess the damage and call the electric company." Regina nodded in understanding and squeezed Emma's hand back in comfort.

"Please be careful Emma and call me if you need me to do anything from here." Emma nodded and stepped a little closer to Regina as she placed a gentle but lingering kiss onto the brunette's lips.

"I will, but don't go out to Mr Stevens' farm, if the storm is on its way then it could be a lot worse by tonight, we can swing by there tomorrow, okay?" Regina gave a small sigh but nodded her head before returning Emma's kiss.

"I love you Emma" Regina said as she pulled back from Emma with a small smile playing across her lips. Emma gave Regina one last smile and headed for the office door

"I love you too babe, I will see you tonight when I get home" she called back over her shoulder with a final glance at the brunette.

* * *

Emma ran back the short distance to the Sheriff's office and to the cruiser which was parked out front. She jammed the keys into the lock and jumped inside quickly already soaked from the pouring rain which only seemed to be getting worse. She pulled out of her parking space and made out towards the woods on the west side of the town.

The wind was definitely picking up and leaves and other debris was blowing across the road and sticking to her windscreen. The rain was driving and she could hardly see where she was going even with the wipers working as fast as they would go.

It didn't take her long to locate the offending tree as it could be seen from the road side. She pulled to the side of the road and switched the engine off before reaching into the passenger foot well to grab the black Sheriff Windbreaker and shrugging into it. She jumped out the cruiser quickly pulling the hood up over her damp blonde hair and made the short walk to the tree.

She quickly assessed the scene and headed back to the cruiser so she could make the necessary phone calls to deal with it. She would need to call the electric company and make them aware of the tree, she would then need to call Mr Williams, the towns own forest ranger to see when he could come out and cut the tree down. She hadn't received any phone calls of people in town without electricity so she assumed the tree was just leaning on the line rather than having severed it. She looked at her wrist watch and sighed, it was going to be a long afternoon.

A few hours later, nearly 6 according to her phone, she had finally dealt with the tree and the electric company had been out to say the line was safe but they would come back out when the weather was a little better to do a full assessment. That was the good thing about being in a small contained town, things got done very quickly. She was currently sat in the cruiser waiting for it to warm up the cab as she was freezing down to the bone, completely soaked through, her hair was plastered to her head and water droplets were forming and dripping from the ends. It was safe to say she had had enough of the day and wanted nothing more than to go home and see Regina and Henry and then take a long hot shower.

Her phone rang again and she reached over to the passenger seat wondering who was calling her at this time, especially as by now David should have been in the office for his shift and taken the divert off, Regina and Henry at home and Mary Margaret should be in her apartment looking after Neal. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Henry who was trying to reach her. She quickly answered it with a smile thinking Regina had made him call her to check when she was home.

"Hey Henry, what's up?" she said cheerfully thinking it wouldn't be too long until she was back home and warm with her family.

"Umm are you with Mom?" he asked her carefully, Emma could tell that he was worried; Regina should have been home by about 5:15 at the latest.

"No, she should have been home ages ago, have you tried calling her?" Emma asked as panic started to rise in her chest, she knew what Henry was going to say, she knew in her gut.

"Yeah I tried her at the office and her phone but there was no answer, do you think she is ok? Can't… can't you do that, magic thing you do and go and find her?" Henry's voice hitched half way through the sentence, giving away just how worried he was for his brunette mother especially with how bad the weather was.

"Yeah Henry, don't worry I will find her, do me a favour though? Can you call your grandpa and just let him know. And stay at the house in case she comes home okay? Call me if she does." She replied calmly in return, not wanting to make Henry panic any more than he already was.

"Yeah I can do that, and when you find her Ma, let me know too." Henry replied.

"As soon as I can Henry, see you when we get home." Emma hung up her phone and threw it onto the passenger seat. She knew instantly that Regina had not gone home after work and she had probably gone out to the farm to drop off the paperwork even though Emma had asked her not too.

It was no secret in Storybrooke these days that Emma and Regina shared True Love with each other but only a few people knew about the connection between them. In the early stages of their relationship they had began to realise they could feel what the other was feeling physically (such as if one of them got hurt) or emotionally.

It had been difficult sharing the emotions of another person, to feel what another was feeling whether it was good or bad. Both Regina and Emma had guessed this connection was rooted in their magic as they had always been stronger together and once they had shared True Loves Kiss this had only grown.

However they soon realised that they had to do something about it as it had got them into some rather sticky situations and at times made their work and home lives difficult. So together they managed to teach themselves how to shut out the feelings and emotions of the other person if and when they wanted too.

But right now Emma was concerned and worried for Regina and she needed to know that she was safe. She let her head fall back against the head rest and allowed her thoughts to fill with only Regina and how she made Emma feel. The sound of her laughed, the way her whole face lit up when she smiled, the way she looked at Henry with such unconditional love and compassion, the way Regina's lips felt when they were joined to her own.

Emma's forehead started to crease in concentration because she couldn't feel anything coming from Regina. Emma opened her eyes and looked around the car for something to teleport, thinking that her magic was not working. She noticed her phone and held out her hand, palm up and magically transported the device.

This did nothing to ease the rising discomfort she was feeling in her chest. Emma didn't want to think the worst, but her mind kept running away and coming up with all sorts of scenarios and concentrating on keeping her breathing even was becoming more and more of a battle. With no other option she started the cruiser and headed back into Storybrooke to start retracing Regina's route from her office to the farm.

* * *

After Emma had left the office at lunch time, Regina finished off her salad and coffee and then went back to doing the paperwork she had started before the wonderful interruption. Winter time always brought a lot of issue for the town, from flooding, power cuts, damaged property and road repairs to name but a few. Before the curse had broken and before she had found Emma she never used to mind it, but now, knowing she had a family at home waiting for her all she wanted was to go home and be with them.

The rest of her day went pretty much the same way. She has a few phone calls from numerous people with various problems which she had dealt with and the rest of the time she had just done the paperwork. She had kept glancing out of the window at countless intervals to keep an eye on the weather, knowing that Emma was out in it, but as she hadn't heard from the Sheriff she assumed she was managing to deal with it.

At 5 o clock she shut down her computer and packed her belongings into her bag, she took her black coat off the coat stand and shrugged it on fastening it all the way up and tying the belt round her slim waist. She turned the lights to her office out and opened the door. Just as she was about to close it she remembered about Mr Steven's paperwork and walked back over to the desk to pick it up.

As Regina stepped out of the town hall she suddenly realised how bad the weather was. The wind was cold and strong and the rain was still pouring down and travelling almost horizontally. She pulled the collar of her coat together with one hand in an attempt to keep some of the heat in and raced over to her car. She fumbled to get her keys out of her pocket as quick as she could and pressed the unlock button on the key fob before opening the door and sliding into the drivers seat. Her deep drown hair was now hanging in rat tails even from the short run but she did the best she could in the rear view mirror to tame it.

She started her car and made her way carefully out of the parking lot and towards Mifflin Street. However as she got to the intersection to turn right for home she changed her mind and headed left out of the center of town and towards Mr Stevens farm. She knew Emma would not be pleased, but she would rather do it now than interrupt their first family weekend they had had in weeks.

The further from town she got the worse the roads became. Driving through the wooded area surrounding Storybrooke there were branches all over the road and leaves blowing around all over the place. The tops of the trees were bending violently in the wind and Regina soon started to regret coming out here but she was over half way now and so could see no point in turning around.

Regina had been driving carefully; she was going slower than normal and had been paying attention at every single moment. But all of a sudden the car started to spin out of control and the wet road made it impossible to regain any traction. The world outside of the car blurred into a grey brown smudge and Regina closed her eyes and prayed for it to stop.

 _All it took was 10 seconds. Not enough time for her to transport herself away. Not enough time to really register what was happening or to think of anything or anyone. The sound of metal bending and grinding filled the air, the sound of a tree straining against a massive weight being forced against it and then, silence._


	2. Chapter 2

Emma was driving very slowly along the only main road that took her out towards Mr Steven's farm. She was attempting to navigate her way through the storms current path of destruction and keep and eye out for Regina or her car which meant she could not go very fast anyway, also the visibility from the rain and the darkness that was settling in rapidly meant she couldn't go very fast anyway. As much as she wanted to put her foot down she knew it would be too dangerous.

Every meter that she travelled, hope grew in her chest that Regina had made it to the farm and was just waiting there, drinking a cup of coffee, until the weather had calmed down. But still there was a deep rooted fear knotted in her stomach that the blonde knew would not shift until she knew Regina was safe.

The first thing that Emma noticed in the bean if her headlights were the skid marks in a patch of mud on her side of the road so she pulled the cruiser over onto the grass verge, pulled the hood up on her black Sheriff jacket and stepped out of the car. She looked around her but the rain and wind was making the visibility poor and she could only clearly see a few feet ahead of her.

She walked over to where the skid marks started and followed them with her head bowed down again the continuous onslaught of still driving rain. She could just make out the marks because the tyres had spread the mud along the road as well. She looked up against the rain and all the air in her lungs left her in one quick breath.

She could just make out Regina's car tail lights a bit further up and she could tell that it was no longer on the road. All thoughts of the weather left Emma as she began to run towards the wreckage.

"REGINA" she shouted out as she ran but the storm was doing a good job of muffling her. From her initial assessment of the scene from what she could see and piece together was that the car had skidded on the mud, spun off the road, impacted a tree on the driver's side and bounced back again.

"REGINA" she called again as she reached the car and headed round to the brunettes door which was severely damaged, all of the door was crushed inwards and a large deep gouge ran down the length of the car. The window was complexly smashed and small shards of glass lay everywhere. Emma tried to open the door but it was completely jammed shut. She leant in through the window calling out to Regina again but quieter this time.

"Come on Regina, talk to me, please" Emma's voice hitched on the last word but she couldn't let her emotions control her now. She needed to help Regina and get her our safely. Once again there was no response from inside the car and from where Emma was she couldn't even judge how badly her wife was hurt because she was slumped over in the direction of the passenger seat, head hanging forward slightly and her damp hair covering her face.

Emma dropped onto her hands and knees and checked under the front of the vehicle to make sure there was nothing leaking that could possibly ignite but luckily for them everything looked clear. She scrambled back up onto her feet not minding that her clothes were once again soaked and now muddy. The knees of her skinny jeans were now ripped and her knees bloody from leaning on all the broken glass, but she didn't notice or care. Emma rushed round to the passenger door and opened it before clambering inside. She pushed her chair back as far as it would go allowing herself more room to manoeuvre.

Her heart was still hammering in her chest and it felt as if it was about to burst through the skin at any second. Adrenaline was all that was keeping her moving, that and the need to help Regina. She didn't want to stop and think about anything. The blonde twisted in her seat so she could get better access to Regina and slowly lifted a hand to brush matted brunette hair out of its owners face.

The first injury that Emma noticed was a deep gash on the Mayors temple and blood had run down her face and neck and was slowly soaking into the top of her dress.

"Babe, please say something," Emma fought back a sob as she moved Regina so she was sitting more upright in her seat but while trying to keep her spine and head as straight as possible. Emma needed to move her; she had no choice, in order to check her over for any other injuries. Emma slide her hand from the side of her head where it had been supporting it to her neck and pressed two fingers to her pulse point.

Emma breathed as small sigh of relief that there was a pulse, it was weak but it was there and that meant she was alive. Emma scrabbled around until she found Regina's bag and pulled out her phone as Emma's was still in the cruiser, and dialled David's number. He picked up on the second ring.

"Deputy Nolan" came the formal greeting from her father and just hearing his voice made Emma feel a wash of all different emotions all at once.

"Dad" was all she managed to get out as tears were now falling thick and fast even if she was managing, at the moment to keep the sobbing at bay.

"Emma? Are you okay? What happened?" the concern in his voice made her heart break even more because ever since Emma and Regina had been together they had all become one family. Emma took a deep breath trying to calm her self down.

"Re-gina, she's hurt, Dad, please its-its really bad" she squeezed her eyes shut trying to make herself wake up from the nightmare she had suddenly found herself to be in.

"Where are you? I will be right there; I'm calling for an ambulance now." He was forceful but gentle knowing he needed to get the information from Emma and to try and focus her.

"On the m-main road out t-towards Mr Stevens's farm. Please dad, hurry" she took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down knowing it was still going to be a wait for help.

"Were coming Emma, hold tight" and with that he hung up the phone. Emma put the phone down with a shaky hand and turned her attention back onto the brunette although her hand had never left the Mayors neck keeping track of her pulse.

"Regina, please say something" Emma pleaded cupping Regina's face in her hand. She ran her thumb, now bloody over her cheek repeatedly trying to coax something out of the unresponsive woman.

Emma shifted again so she was sat right on the edge of her seat and started to take note of other injuries on the woman which proved to be difficult in the almost pitch black. She turned the interior light on above her head which helped a little. There was an obvious break in her left arm, and it looked as if her left shoulder was dislocated. Emma ran a gentle hand down Regina's ribs on her left side and could feel there were definitely a few broken. Next she checked over the woman's lower half. There was definitely one broken leg from where it has taken impact from the tree and there were cuts, scraps, gashes and bruises everywhere but what concerned Emma more was her head injury and any internal injuries she couldn't see.

Emma took her sheriffs jacket off and wrapped it carefully around the front of the brunette. With the window busted and the weather still fierce the temperature was dropping quickly. As Emma was doing this Regina let out a low groan.

"Regina!" Emma started as her wife started to regain some consciousness "Its okay, try not to move, you crashed your car. Its okay I've got you." She reassured as panicked hazel orbs tried to focus in on her.

"Em-Emma?" Regina breathed out in a sigh. Emma nodded and grabbed the brunettes face again gently between her hands. She ran her thumbs down both her cheeks this time trying to sooth her.

"Its okay Regina, help is on the way" Emma reassured her.

"I'm really s-sorry, Emma" She breathed out. She tried to change her position but as soon as she did she felt woozy, sick and light headed and a pain ripped though her back.

"I-I don't feel g-good, somethi-ing really hurts" Regina replied as she tried to reach round herself towards her back. Emma grabbed her arm and pulled it back again.

"Don't move, let me look for you." So again Emma readjusted herself and carefully lent over the brunette using to window frame for support and reached round to feel if there was anything there. Her hand landed on something cold and hard and it was embedded in Regina's side, quite low down just above her hip.

Emma pulled her hand back, without removing the object knowing it could make it worse and saw her hand was now coated in a layer of bright red blood. She wiped it on her jeans and looked back at Regina. Emma looked at the inside of the door trying to work out where it had come from and realised the inside door panel was also dented and beaten. A large piece of thick plastic had to have broken off and imbedded itself into Regina.

"Its going to be ok, you just have to leave it and not move okay? Can you do that for me?" Regina gave a tiny nod and Emma could tell she was going to black out again. Her breathing was becoming shallower with every breath and she was pale and shivering.

"Regina! Please stay with me, please," Emma grabbed one of her hands and held it to her chest like an anchor while the other moved back into its position on her cheek, "you have to stay with me. I need you, Henry needs you."

Regina gave a weak smile at the mention of Henrys name and opened her eyes and tried to focus on Emma again but it was becoming more and more difficult as the world started to become dimmer and fuzzier.

"Tell," she took a deep breath in and tried to continue "tell Henry to b-be a good boy and t-hat I love him so-so much." Emma shook her head and went to object to what Regina was trying to say but the mayor's hand was now on her own cheek and the lump in her throat stopped her.

"My whole li-fe all I ever w-wanted was to not be ju-judged. I just want-wanted to b-be loved, accepted, and you, you gave m-me that Em-ma," her eyes drifted shut for a brief moment then opened again only this time passion, love, sadness and happiness all burned brightly "I wanted you to-to have a fam-ily who loved you as-as much as you th-them. Who supported you, care-d for y-you and accepted you for you. I hope I have because I love you, I always will."

Emma couldn't help it this time as a sob ripped its way out from her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut trying to clear her vision and then looked into the brown eyes she knew so well "You did, you and Henry are my family and it's everything I ever dreamed it would be. I have never and will never want anything more than what I have now with you and our son. I love you too Regina, I always have."

Emma leant down and pressed her lips to Regina's in a long burning kiss, trying to pour everything she felt into it, she felt pressure being returned from Regina's lips trying to portray everything back at her as well. When Emma pulled away she ran her hand through the brunette hair still openly sobbing but noticed that once again Regina's eyes had closed.

"Regina… Regina!" Emma said loudly trying to rouse her wife but there was no response, moved her hand back onto her neck at her pulse point but felt nothing.

"No, no, no!" Emma shouted as she changed her position and this time gently pulled Regina into her embrace holding on tightly and gently stroking the cheek of the woman who meant everything to her. She was faintly aware of sirens starting to come closer but still some distance away. She sat there with Regina clutched tightly against her as she rocked slowly tears steaming down her cheeks.

She felt a burning, ripping sensation in her own chest coming from her heart. But all she could do was cling to the woman who meant the entire world to her, surrounded by bent metal, smashed glass, bright red blood and now the remains of her shattered heart.

* * *

Henry and Emma slowly walked up to the grave where Regina was buried and stopped at the foot of the plot. Emma put her arm around her son's waist as he was just too tall now to be able to reach his shoulders comfortably and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

He stepped forward and bent down on one knee as he laid the single long stemmed red poppy on top of the black marble grave stone.

"I have been doing really well in school and I have been doing all my homework just as I promised. I miss you, Mom, everyday and I know that Ma misses you a lot too. I will come and see you again soon, I promise. I love you."

He stood back up with his head hung low to try and hide the tears, but Emma knew. He came and took his position next to her again and this time Emma stepped forward and knelt down.

She stroked her hand over the top of the headstone thinking how right the words were that they had chosen. It's hard to sum up a person into a few words and it had taken Emma and Henry a long time to decide but she was content with what they had finally settled on. She took a deep breath already feeling the lump forming in her throat and the stinging starting in her eyes.

"Not a second goes by where I don't miss you Regina, and I don't know how I have gotten through this last year because it never gets any easier," she took a deep breath as the lump caught in her throat as her vision blurred with tears, "but I have. My heart still aches at every moment of every day and I just hope one day, when were together again it will heal. I love you Regina, I always have" she finished, echoing the last words she had spoken to her true love.

She kissed the tips of her fingers on one hand before pressing them over Regina's name on the cold marble. She ran her hand over the rest of the words which has been carved into the black stone and highlighted in white which read

 _In Loving Memory of Regina Swan-Mills_

 _Devoted Wife, Mother and Friend_

 _Loved Forever_

 _Forgotten Never_


End file.
